Unexpected
by abi marie
Summary: It is five years after the war has ended and Hermione is alone and confused. She ran away from everything in her depression and is now living in the States. Everyday is the same: boring and safe. And when she thinks she can't take it anymore an unexpected visitor shows up and changes everything. Rated M for language but possible and probable smut later.


I hope y'all like my story. Honestly, I'm not quite sure where to go with it, too many ideas bouncing around in my head at the moment. So reviewing what I write and giving me ideas is always welcome and plus the more reviews the faster I update, which is always a good thing because I have horrendous motivation to do just about anything aside from eating and sleeping. Um yes, my timeline is definitely off because its summer and I don't want to think about counting years and I know I will probably make a lot of references to things that the characters would not have known about or didn't exist yet. Also if I offend anyone by anything that I say or any stereotypes that I throw out there, I am deeply sorry and it was totally unintentional.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot; I mean if I owned Harry Potter do you think I would really be writing fan fiction? No. All credit to the almighty and powerful J.K. Rowling – the most fabulous person to ever walk the planet.

And I know the first chapter is going to be boring (and short) but that is a must as it sets up the story line and all that has happened in the last four years in Hermione's life. i hope the rest of the chapters will be longer but for me to write I need you to review. ENJOY AND REVIEW. PLEASE.

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Pulling her favorite red ATV over to the side of the beaten path she drove down every day, she jumped off and wandered a little ways away before settling down in the tall grasses before flopping onto her back and closing her eyes against the warm Texas sun. It was only the beginning of May yet nearly 90 degrees as the temperature was decreasing at the end of the day. Happiness eluded her, as it had for the past four and a half years. Five years since the end of the war and much had happened since.

The end of the war had brought a feeling of euphoria to everyone but that joy soon died, leaving nearly everyone to suffer in mourning of the lost ones. For almost six months, there were very few celebrations to be found. But then the happiness began to return in the form of acceptance. People began to move on and rejoice the defeat of Voldemort once more. She had gotten a job at the ministry and had tried a relationship with Ron. She had made new friends and seen the ones she loves begin lives together, and she almost forgot her sadness, but not quite. Everyone seemed to have moved on, except her. The lost ones never left her; they were always in the corner of her mind, nagging at her not to forget them, their non-existent ghosts always in her peripheral vision. Sleep became a rare thing, the nightmares causing her to fear closing her eyes. Bellatrix, Voldemort, and Lucius Malfoy haunted her in the night hours. She lived in constant fear and eventually couldn't take it any longer. She simply up and left her life behind. She left a note warning everyone not to worry, she would be back in a week, just needing to get away for a while. How wrong she had been. She had written that note four years ago and hadn't spoken to anyone since. She had planned on returning after a week, she really had, but to no avail.

Texas. She remembered and uncle in Texas, Uncle Ben, or just Ben to everyone. Ben was her father's older brother. He had decided to attend college in Texas and fell in love with the Lone Star State and never left. Her parents were two of the ghosts that followed her, having never been able to find them in Australia, they were dead to her. She hoped being with her Uncle would remove the ghost her father and for a while it had. She had begun to feel happy again and got more sleep than previously. Ben was not alone on the ranch he had purchased. He had taken his inheritance from his father and bought the land on which a newlywed couple had lived and then some and with investments had built up quite a property and a massive house built upon the hill. But now they were in their mid-50s, just like Ben. Tim and Lydia McKibben were the brains behind the ranch. They were used to this life whereas Ben was not. He handled the money and they handled everything else. Aside from Tim and Lydia, their niece and nephew lived there too. About six years ago Lydia's sister and her husband were killed in an auto crash leaving eight-year-old Luke and one-year-old Lorri with no one but their aunt and uncle. Luke and Lorri had brought inexplicable happiness to her in the past four years. They helped her to forget the ghosts and the endless joy of a seven-year-old had made the nightmares disappear for the most part, but any reminder of her old life and they would return, all of them, the lost ones and her haunters.

She hadn't spoken to anyone outside of the Mckibbens and her uncle for four years and she clung to the memories of her previous life. She remembered Harry and Ginny moving to a small house a few miles from the Burrow and legally adopting Teddy Lupin, now Teddy Lupin-Potter. Neville had entered the auror training program with Harry and Ron and had his eye on Hannah Abbot. She had befriended Blaise Zabini through work and had grown rather close to him. Blaise, tall and sensible, had begun dating the adorable oddity that was Luna Lovegood because he thought she was "hilarious" and "somewhat surreal." She wondered if they had worked out. She hadn't heard anything of the other former Slytherins since the end of the war. She assumed they were laying low as many of them had death eater parents and she knew that Blaise had defected from the dark side but she didn't know of anyone else that was trying to change their ways. Harry had testified on the behalf of Narcissa and Draco Malfoy during the post-war trials, saving them from Azkaban but Lucius had been left to the dementors, and rightfully so.

She opened her eyes and the sun was low in the sky, turning the sky all shades of red, purple, and yellow. The sky was at its prettiest at sunset, a multitude of colors blending across the sky, basking everything in a warm light. She realized that she had fallen asleep in the fresh grass and twisting her long coffee-colored curls on top of her head, trudged over to her ATV and kicked it back to life; tearing back up the path to home, wonder just how she, Hermione Jean Granger, had come to be here.

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Okay so I hope y'all liked it. I know it's a little boring but this is just the beginning. REVIEW PLEASE PLEAS PRETTY PLEASE


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